


Back At It Again With Another Supernatural Shit Storm

by EagerQueenofAwesomeness



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: And so do the other numbered kiddos that I created, El has her Powers, F/F, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, Mainly because I suck at remembering details, Not Canon Compliant, The end credit was too confusing so I never address it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-08-20 01:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20219344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EagerQueenofAwesomeness/pseuds/EagerQueenofAwesomeness
Summary: Author created another supernatural attack because she just really wanted an excuse to write Robin with a girlfriend.This time, there's more than just El available to fight the monster(s). But will they get there in time to save the Party?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or kudos to let me know if you're interested!

Government scientists don’t stop fucking shit up.  
They really didn’t mean to, it was actually out of their control. The experiment to create mutant kids was something they definitely meant to do and therefore definitely in their control, but what followed 34 years after wasn’t something they intended to happen.  
1953 was the year the CIA started Project MKUltra. After many modifications to the drugs given to the pregnant women of the program, the first to survive utero development was born in 1957 but died three years. First as in 001. First as in first to make it to an age that showed brain activity unlike any human infant. Again and again, modifications after modifications, until finally, the first child to survive long enough to showcase their mental abilities was raised. The first as in 006. There were nine more children after 006 that displayed mental abilities, each one different than the next.  
The utero drugs given to 006-015 were different psychedelics but were all unified by one element: einium. It was the key to keeping the children alive long enough to reach the potential MKUltra needed from them. Hawkins was the lab that perfected this formula. 006-015 were all born and kidnapped at the hands of Hawkins, but the children were handed to different labs for the development of their powers. Hawkins, Avon, Franklin, and Terre Haute all began with two gifted children in their charge (with Terre Haute and Franklin gaining a third as the last children were born) as well as vials of the utero drugs given to each of them.  
It’s the preservation of the utero drugs that really fucked the scientists over.  
Despite the fact that Indiana isn’t known for being remarkable, some very remarkable things happened there. 1983 marked a very remarkable time for not only Indiana, but for the scientists in Indiana. A portal was opened in Hawkins, but the contents of it spilled over through the tunnels built to connect all 5 labs.  
In the panicked frenzy of fighting off the creatures, the ten vials were left unprotected.  
Four creatures, each in a different lab, smashed into those vials and were covered in its contents, mutating and evolving like those children once had.  
Despite the gate closing in 1984, the creatures remained, lurking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short but important prologue to show the canon divergent way I conceptualized the 'numbered kiddos' being created on purpose (instead of being kidnapped like Kali at a young age or taken at birth like El). First time posting something with multiple chapters so let's see where this takes us


	2. November 20th, 1987 (Friday)

Planet Video was dull. Steve was ready to admit that Scoops Ahoy, a slightly less dull and much better smelling place of employment, was missed terribly. Sure he had Robin, but there was also Keith. But not only was there Keith, there were children running around and trying to rent movies even Steve would blush at. This title wasn’t so bad, but these kids...they were irritating.  
“For the last time, you are not old enough to rent Eating Raoula. It is not the movie Eating Raoul, not even close,” Steve yanked the tape from one kid’s hands and tossed it in the ‘To Shelve’ bin. Robin’s laughter signaled the youth’s dejected departure.  
“If only Keith were up here. Those kids would’ve gotten the movie no problem,” she teased with a smirk, rolling a cart around the front desk. A decorative cardboard declaring ‘New Movies’ wobbled as Robin stopped and adjusted its position at the front of the store.  
“If only Keith were up here so I wouldn’t have to be,” Steve said with a roll of his eyes. Robin walked towards him as he continued his rant. “Those kids were the first people to show since lunch. And they shouldn’t have even been here. School is still in session! I’d be less bored sitting through a lecture.” Steve had started college this year after finally going back to get his GED the same year Robin graduated. Both newly fledged adults were taking entry level classes, having yet to puzzle together what major would best fit. Steve figured the stream of supernatural and foreign government attacks had finally ceased after the summer of ‘85 which meant finding a career was actually in order.  
Robin hummed in agreement and hopped onto the counter. “Don’t speak so soon, we have an hour left until the after school rush. Then we’ll have to actually work for the money we get. You’d just fall asleep in lectures anyway.”  
Steve leaned an elbow on the counter, chin-in-hand making his pout even more exaggerated. “If I had known choosing to have Friday off at college meant spending my Friday at Planet Video I wouldn’t have made my schedule the way I did.”  
Robin shoved his shoulder lightly before saying, “At least you get to see your kiddos when they come in for movie night. Besides, it’s not like you had plans anyway.”  
Steve’s face took on an offended look, and following a dramatic gasp he said, “I’ll have you know I finally asked that girl in College Algebra out and she actually said yes. And she suggested Friday, but since I had to work I asked about the weekend. She’s leaving town and won’t be back until Monday which...yep...I have to work. So.” The hand resting on his face started smooshing the apple of his cheek farther north than natural causing an exaggerated snarl to grace his lips. “I’m not like you and Love Letters. I want to go on dates every chance I get instead of only seeing each other once a mon-” Steve paused at the expression on Robin’s face. She wasn’t frowning but her eyebrows were furrowed in the middle. “What?”  
Robin’s gaze lowered to the floor. Her rough voice sounded out every word carefully and precisely. “Steve. We can’t go on dates in public so when we are able to see each other we just go somewhere by ourselves. She works a lot and doesn’t even live here so it’s hard to meet up more than that.” Steve inhaled to her right and slowly exhaled. Robin’s ears were almost eaten by her shoulders and her knuckles were white with tension.  
“Sometimes I don’t think, Robin. I’m sorry. I was trying to tease about how you’re just now got together after a year of being ‘friends’,” he air quoted with an apologetic look still in his eye. “I just didn’t think. Sorry. I forget that it’s...” Steve sighed again, not knowing how to finish.  
The freckled girl shook her head before letting go of the tension and sagging backwards. “It’s ok, Steve.” The pair starred outward towards the barren parking lot for a few minutes before Robin spoke up again, trying to change the mood to something more light-hearted. “What’s so wrong about waiting that long anyway. You couldn’t talk to College Algebra for two months dingus. You still don’t know her name,” she grinned.  
“No way are those to comparable,” Steve started. Robin attempted to interrupt, but Steve just spoke louder. “No way are those comparable, Robin. Both of you meet at the Sandy’s Diner and share a table because it was too crowded and you hit it off! You had a date without having to worry about asking her for one, and you both kept meeting around town until she had to leave for work so you started writing letters to each other and calling for an entire year. Those letters were signed Love, Nina, and you, for some godforsaken reason, were questioning if she was saying ‘_love love_’ or ‘_friend_ _love_’. For a year! It was agonizing to repeat myself so many times that she loved you since your first date an entire year ago. That’s not waiting a while. That was, and probably will always be, the most neurotic way to handle romantic feelings.”  
Robin hopped off the counter with a blush dusting her cheeks. Steve, having rested his hands on his hips during his rant, just raised an eyebrow at her quiet ‘_shut up_’ and the tongue that poked out at his direction before turning to the front door to watch a customer pull into a parking spot. Two more cars pulled in after the first, and with a confirmatory glance towards the clock Steve knew it was the after school rush. Robin grabbed the ‘To Shelve’ bin and went on her merry shelving way, leaving Steve to call out a continuous stream of “Hi, welcome to Planet Video. Our movies are out of this world. How can I help you.” The fake enthusiasm made himself cringe.  
Countless people came in the store. Countless movies were returned and checked out. Countless hours go by until finally his group of brats storm into the store. Dustin, Mike, Lucas, and Max all wave a greeting before breaking off to search through movies categorically. He watches as Robin ruffles Dustin’s hair and bumps Max’s shoulder when passing them. She could claim they were his kids all she wanted, but they imprinted on her too.  
Dustin made his way to Steve first with a copy of _Friday the 13th_. “What’s up, Harrington?” They do their handshake while Steve again lamented about his failure to schedule a date. Dustin of course tells him to cheer up, ‘_she didn’t say no_’, because at least their half of The Party would be with him on Fridays.  
“Yeah, speaking of, when are the Byers and El coming back in,” Steve questioned as the rest of the kids brought their movie choices forward.  
All four faces brightened before Max answered, “Next week Tuesday! They get out a day earlier than us for Thanksgiving so Mrs. Byers is driving in on our last day.”  
Robin walked into the conversation with a small smile. “Can’t wait to see those little weirdos again. What day are we thinking for dinner?” Last year was the first year of their departure, and the Byers return during the holiday breaks was chaotic. Everyone agreed after that there should be an attempt to have one day for The Party and their Support System (aka the adults that helped to take down the Russians and the Mind Flayer). Wednesday turned out to be the agreed upon day, and with promises to bike home safe, the kiddos left.  
Steve glanced at the clock before blowing out a long exhale. Rush hour would recommence at 5:30 with the parents getting off of work, leaving another hour of time to kill. Paper hit his arm and he glanced at Robin. She grinned at him before shaping her thumbs and pointers into a goal. “You really need practice if you want any chance of beating me in the future.” Steve rolled his eyes good-naturedly and shot the paper football forward, missing the goal by several inches. The freckled girl cackled and tossed it back at him, before taking out a whiteboard, uncapping a marker, and marking a tally under a ‘Missed Opportunity By Steve ‘ column. There were almost no points on the only other column labeled ‘He Shoots He Scores’.  
Robin was right. He really needed practice if he wanted to end 1987 coming out a winner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am Robin. Steve is the embodiment of literally all my friends.


	3. November 24th, 1987 (Tuesday)

Of course the most exciting day for everyone of the month crept by as slow as molasses. Max and Mike traded sighs in their last shared class of the day, watching the clock barely move towards 3:00. The redhead knew Mike was jumping out of his skin more than her while waiting to finally see El again.The Byers had moved to a small town three hours away from Hawkins, and while Max missed El, her phone calls were always enough to make sure the family was doing ok.  
Max moved her gaze from the clock to Mike. _Long distance relationships must suck_. El could check on Mike all the time with her powers, but it wasn’t a two way street. Max’s own relationship was in a good place. Her and Lucas had split for a while, and it gave her time to mature into herself more and think through _everything_ that happened during her time in Hawkins.  
Between finding out about the supernatural and losing Billy, Max had been unsettled for longer than everyone else. Not to mention her parent’s almost decided to leave Hawkins. But after a year the dust settled, and she felt less angry and upset at all the events and decisions that lead to Billy’s death. The redhead could begin move on to sorting through her feelings for Lucas which eventually lead to the start of their relationship again. She didn’t actually treat the relationship right in the first place, and now that they were together again she knew how to communicate with Lucas instead of, well, breaking up.  
The bell rang suddenly, and Max straightened in her seat. Mike had already packed his things away, half turned to go out the door before glancing over his shoulder at the redhead. “Sorry, I’m coming,” she exclaimed while grabbing her bag in one hand and her papers in the other. As they walked into the hall, Mike glanced around for the other two while Max stuffed her things in her bag. A warm hand squeezed her elbow gently. The redhead glanced up with a smile on her face.  
“You ready,” Lucas questioned, head tilted towards the other boys now walking away from them. Max nodded and darted up for a quick kiss before flinging her zipped bag onto one shoulder. “Well c’mon, you can ride with me,” Lucas said while holding out his hand. Max took his hand and, with a squeeze, they walked quickly outside to join Mike and Dustin at the bike rack.  
All four started on the same path towards Hoper’s old cabin. It was their Christmas gift to El last year to make the place presentable again, and Mrs. Byers agreed to help find workers who could fix plumbing and electric. It looked rough and was barely livable, but El had declared the cabin to be the new family compound for Hawkins visits. Will suggested a cabin name and the Party decided Fort Byers was the only name it could have.  
It was probably a good thing, Max thought as the wind blew her hair back, that none of them had a car to drive. While her and Dustin had turned 16, riding bikes allowed everyone to take the shortcuts around town.  
That and no one had a car.  
Lucus turned into the trees beside Dustin with Mike farther ahead. “Jesus, if he doesn’t slow down he won’t be able to talk without sounding like a dog,” Dustin exclaimed while trying to peddle faster.  
Max smirked. “As if he and El are going to be talking.” Lucas laughed while Dustin agreed with a ‘_yeah, yeah_’.  
The three finally made it to the house, discarding the bikes next to Mike’s. The Byers came outside, and everyone whooped a greeting before falling into one hug sans El and Mike. As they parted, Mrs. Byers called out to El that she should say hi to everyone else. The girl detached herself from Mike with a blush high on her cheeks, but she was smiling all the same as she walked over to the redhead and threw her arms around Max’s neck. The others started circling around them for another group hug.  
Max took and deep breath before closing her eyes. Her best friend was back. They had a lot to talk about; sophomore year was rough.  
After everyone detached, Jonathan left to spend some time with Nancy while Mrs. Byers went to meet Murray for dinner. The theorist decided to stay in Hawkins since his compound was already compromised. He worked for the private library that had opened after the public library burned. The last time Max had seen Murray in action, he was helping some college students with research for projects. He was eccentric but effective in his new paid position.  
The Party leaped up the steps and into the cabin to begin catching up. The walls of the cabin didn’t have insulation, and there were no windows because no one knew how to install one with only a hammer and nails. The floors were easy-to-lay vinyl and currently covered by two blow up mattresses. The other two were in the kid-created partitioned off squares meant to be rooms. I was getting colder as the sun started to dip down so Dustin, using all his skills he accumulated at various camps, helped light a fire in the fireplace.  
Max pulled out the popcorn kernels she had kept in her bag all day and rummaged around the kitchen to find a pot. A few sneezes later, the redhead triumphantly plonks the pot between two logs and pours the kernels in with a rattle. None of them wanted to go out for dinner so the popcorn and the s’more ingredients Mrs. Byers bought would have to suffice.  
There was much to talk about. Will joined a decathlon team at the start of the year, and the captain’s position was free to campaign for come December. El, with her newfound school obligations, was on the hunt for any extracurricular interests. Fashion was something she and Max shared a passion for, but this semester El started dipping her toes in the wide world of fine arts. Lucas shared news he received today: he would start running on the JV track team after the winter break finished. Mike talked about Holly’s seventh birthday and shared, with a fond eye roll, the news of her newest love, Nathan Tedford, who always said hi to her in the mornings and bye to her in the afternoons. Dustin informed El and Will that he finally got a job at Howard’s Family Restaurant three months ago, however he was presently unemployed due to the restaurant being shut down for violating the health code.  
And Max didn’t have much to say. She worked at You-nique Resale Boutique since her sixteenth birthday, and she loved it for two reasons: it got her out of the house and she could sort through the donated clothes to take a few pieces home before everyone else. She already had a few items stored away for each friend, hidden until Christmas. Work was boring and the gifts didn’t need to be spoiled so soon so she announced to the room the only exciting thing left. “My mom said I could get a dog. I’m hoping to adopt one before Christmas.”  
Lucas nodded with a small smile. He knew it was her mom’s way of trying to help Max with Billy’s death. Plus she’s always wanted one. “Big or small,” Will questioned before popping a handful of popcorn in his mouth.  
“If you want a small dog, you might as well just get a cat,” Dustin shrugged while throwing his two cents in.  
“But aren’t small dogs easier to carry and cuddle,” El questioned with a tilted head, leaning against Mike.  
“All dogs are great to cuddle, but if you’re going fluffy, bigger is better,” Lucas declared with a tap of his foot against Max’s. She returned it with a small smile.  
“I’ve always wanted a big dog,” Will directed toward El. “Partially from fear of larger animals being able to get it and partially because there is more of big dogs to cuddle.” Will shrugged.  
“Whatever you choose, don’t name it something lame. Princess and Spot are automatically vetoed,” Dustin spoke in between crunches of popcorn.  
Max laughed. “I promise to call each of you to avoid owning a tragically named dog.” And with that, El grabbed the bag for s’mores.  
After everyone was significantly nauseous from over consumption, Mrs. Byers arrived back at Fort Byers. The Hawkins residents were ushered out with promises to see each other the following day for Thanksgiving, which would be bought from KFC and taken to the cabin to avoid a possible kitchen fire originating from the banged up oven.  
Lucas brought her home safely and after a kiss goodnight, she went inside to an empty house. Billy’s dad traveled for work and her mom probably had the night shift at the hospital. Max sighed, mentally making plans to get something to put on Billy’s grave tomorrow. He was a jerk, but he saved all of her friends’ lives. The only thanks she could give was remembering him during the holidays.  
They were in the season of family after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBH at the end of Season 2 I was crossing my fingers that they gave Billy character development that showed abuse victims aren't destined to perpetuate the cycle and I'm only half satisfied (even though Dacre played him beautifully). But Max's reaction to his death was super important to her character so I tried to give as much credit to that as possible.


	4. November 25th, 1987 (Wednesday)

Despite all the shit Will had been through at Hawkins, it was settling to be back with his friends, his Party. D&D was still a love of his, but he could only play with the people he knew best. It took him back to the simplest time of his young adult life, you know, when the Demogorgons and Mind Flayers were just a game.  
The boys sat around the kitchen table at Fort Byers, almost complete with the campaign Will designed. El and Max lounged on the air mattress closest to the table, focused on their own conversation and paying no mind to the tense moments before Mike’s roll. “C’mon, dude, roll a five. Roll a five. Roll a...,” Dustin halted his chant as the dice flew across the table. Groans of defeat filled the air before Dustin disappointingly muttered, “A six.”  
“The Slaad dodged the spell cast and attacked your defenseless party! There were no survivors,” Wills exclaimed with a voice of authority, officiating the end of the campaign. Lucas shoved Dustin to stop his constant grumbling.  
Footsteps echoed as Mrs. Byers entered the cabin, Thanksgiving meal carried via KFC bags. Jonathan and Nancy followed with cases of soda from Melvald’s. Another car was heard approaching outside, signaling the arrival of Steve and Robin. With the exception of Murray, who would come later for dessert, the family was all together.  
As everyone set the table, Will’s mind wondered. Holidays weren’t always as content as this. He and Jonathan hated seeing their mom have to scrape to have enough money during the holiday season-a season that always is more pricey than a single mother’s budget can handle. But now, things were good. His mom had a good job working as a manager for a new general store at their new town. His friends were always part of his family, especially after saving him twice and saving the world together once, he felt settled, safe to be surrounded by them again.  
Despite the rocky start of Jonathan and Steve’s relationship, they were able to move past their differences. The ex-jock was almost like an older brother to Will after he introduced Robin to the younger boy. Not only did Robin help Will come to terms with his nonheterosexuality, but she also told him to not be so afraid to let the people close to him know. The freckled girl had told him last winter that telling Steve who she was actually helped fight of negative attitudes from society. She said if Steve Harrington, basketball jock extraordinaire, was doing his best to understand her sexuality, Will’s mother and brother would too. So he wasn’t out, the young boy didn’t want to tell anyone without actually having a label to call himself, but he wasn’t afraid of familial rejection.  
Setting the last plate on the table, Will looked up at his mom who began to speak. “Ok everyone, circle around and join hands.” The family unit did as asked, and Will was linked with Jonathan on his left and El on his right. “I would like to start off saying thanks for you kids having safe year and doing very well in school. I’m so impressed with all of you taking time to take a class or extracurricular you are passionate about.”  
The mother squeezed Dustin’s hand to get the curly haired boy to say his thanks, and it went on from there. Most around the circle tossed in an average ‘_thanks for no freaky disasters this year’_ before landing on Will. “I’m thankful that we have time to spend together even if it’s only for a few days.” El squeezed his hand and went on with her thanks before everyone sat down to eat the simple Thanksgiving meal.  
Murray did show for dessert, bringing his own pumpkin pie in addition to the s’mores. He didn’t stay for long, reasons given were hushed by Will’s mom in an attempt to prevent the mood from being dampened. The librarian did get a fond look in his eye when asking all the teens their favorite topics learned in school. He could pretend all he liked, but Will knew Murray was happy to have a family again. Once he left, Steve and Robin followed, giving hugs to everyone before departing. Sleeping bags were tossed on the ground, everyone ready to hibernate off the mounds of food sitting in their stomachs.  
The others had their own family shindigs to participate in on the actual Thanksgiving Day tomorrow. A few tired conversations started, but an hour into things left Will the last one awake, watching over his family for a few more moments before sleep overcame him.  
~~~  
The Byers left that Thanksgiving morning after the friends said goodbye. Will noticed El was reluctant to get into the car even after Mike had left. “I know it sucks we can’t spend more time with them, but we’ll be back next month for Christmas and New Years.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.  
The newest Byers leaned into his side and poked his sternum. “I feel tight, there. Like I shouldn’t leave.” She had a frown on her lips and a furrow to her brows.  
Will sighed in agreement. “I hate leaving too. It’s almost like even though I know nothing bad will happen, I can’t stop thinking about the ‘what ifs’.” He paused as El nodded against his shoulder. Her hand now tight against the front of his shirt, wrinkling it. “But we have to trust they’ll tell us if something happens. Just like they trust us. It’s like Mom always says, ‘don’t lose the time to be kids’. We don’t have to prepare for anything anymore, El.”  
Slowly, El released his shirt and moved away to pick up her duffel bag. “I know there is no danger. It just takes longer to feel there is no danger.” She shared a small smile with Will before saying, “I am thankful for you.” Despite her words, there was still apprehension along the girl’s tight shoulders.  
The pair moved together towards the car, one leaving only because the other was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just barely made my self-imposed 1000 word count minimum oops


	5. November 29th, 1987 (Sunday)

Sunday morning traffic through Planet Video was never busy. If Robin ran the joint, she wouldn’t even open until after the earliest church times. But Keith was an idiot, so she and Steve were straightening shelves for something else to do besides more paper football. The shelves were long, dusty, cluttered,and unalphabetized. While it was satisfying to look at after the task was done, the monotonous work left much to be desired.  
The bell rang and Robin heard Steve recite the lame greeting but tuned it out for favor of reciting the entire alphabet over again to sort yet another movie. It wasn’t until she heard a clear feminine voice say “Hi, I’m looking for Robin. Is she in today?” did she stand up to peak over the shelf with wide eyes.  
“Nina,” Robin breathed, fiddling with her hair and swiping at the dust that had collected on her clothes. The short, auburn haired girl turned in Robin’s direction and met her shocked gaze with a warm, excited smile. She looked… “Great! Uh, I mean, you look great.” Robin cleared her throat, hoping there wasn’t a blush creeping to her cheeks. As Nina made her way over, the freckled girl glanced behind the counter. Steve, the resident dingus, was miming his shock with ‘oh my god’ reading across his lips. Another sentence, something resembling ‘she’s so hot’ was accompanied by two thumbs up. Robin, just now realizing Steve had never seen her girlfriend, sent a glare in his direction before turning her attention to Nina.  
The corner of Nina’s coral painted lips ticked upward as she stopped in front of Robin. Reaching to smooth down the side of the freckled girl’s collar, Nina teased, “Somehow, even in this tacky uniform, you look great too.” A finger brushed against Robin’s cheekbone lightly before tucking into the leather jacket covering the shorter girl’s frame.  
“Seriously, Neens, I like the outfit.” Robin’s girlfriend had fashion sense, but always switched which style she liked most. Today it was 70s rock, tomorrow it could be lumberjack flannel. Robin opened her mouth to ask what Nina was doing standing there in front of her, but Steve chose this moment to step in the pair’s bubble.  
“You must be Robin’s girlfriend, Nina. I’m Steve.” His smile was wide, eyes darting between the two young women before him. Since Robin knew him so well, she knew the dingus definitely tried for casual but was too excited to keep it to himself. His support was endlessly appreciated, but his execution needed more work. The young man’s eyebrows continued to creep up his forehead in anticipation.  
Nina, adaptable and polite as always, offered her hand to the overexcited puppy. “Hey, Steve, nice to finally meet Robin’s best friend.” That was the right thing to say if Steve’s beaming smile had anything to say about it.  
Robin smiled patiently at Steve who continued to smile and nod at her girlfriend. The freckled girl cleared her throat softly, raising her eyebrows pointedly. Steve’s ‘oh, right’ indicated he got the message. Hooking his thumb over his shoulder, Steve said, “I’ve got, uh, something to do in the, uh, back. Anyway it was nice meeting you, Nina.” As he walked towards the back he glanced over his shoulder and gave Robin another thumbs up.  
“You weren’t kidding about him being surprisingly supportive, huh,” Nina laughed, warm eyes softening her teasing tone. The shorter girl took Robins hand in hers, rubbing the freckled girl’s knuckles with her thumb.  
Robin huffed a laugh and shook her head. “I told you it was the most accurate description.” She took her free hand and tucked an auburn lock behind her girlfriend’s ear. “I’m glad you’re here to meet him and see me, but what exactly are you doing here?”  
Nina leaned into Robin’s hand. She was about to respond, but her eyes darted to the front doors. Her body straightened, face coming out of Robin’s hold before the bell rang and a lone customer walked in. The freckled girl sighed and with an apologetic look, called out the welcome speale. The customer only wanted to return a movie and extend the rental date of another one, so Robin made her way to the front desk. After the task was done, Nina walked to the counter as the customer exited.  
Robin grimaced. “I’m sorry.” Nina wasn’t afraid to date anyone publicly. In fact, she didn’t even have a clue why Robin kept avoiding touch when others were around. Once Robin explained she wasn’t out to her parents and didn’t want someone from town telling them, Nina respected the unofficial no PDA rule.  
“Robin,” Nina murmured softly. She leaned up on her toes to press her upper body over the counter. Her forehead meet a freckled one before she continued. “I understand. You don’t have to apologize. I don’t really have much family to be cautious around but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what it’s like to run from disappointing someone just because I’m me.” The girl pressed a quick kiss against Robin’s check before lowering herself to her normal height.  
_Wow, I’m in love with her_, Robin thought. Instead of saying that, she whispered a ‘thank you’. The pair traded smiles before the freckled girl asked her question for the second time. “So why do I get such a lovely surprise this morning?”  
The auburn-haired girl shrugged with a smile. “Someone needed some extra shifts before paychecks came out, so I traded. I drove Thanksgiving day to have Thanksgiving with my brother on Friday and Saturday. I was driving back and realized since you’re on the way back, I had time to make a detour.” There was a blush dusting her cheeks, and it took all of Robin’s self control not to ‘aw’ and how casual her girlfriend was trying to be about the visit.  
Instead, the freckled girl leaned down and kissed Nina. After they parted, her girlfriend bit her lip and sighed. “I wish we could have time to continue that later, but I have a shift tonight. I just wanted a chance to see you before you started your finals.”  
Robin groaned, “Don’t remind me. I haven’t even started studying yet.” Nina laughed and her dramatics. “You’ll stop by before you go see your brother for Christmas, right?”  
Nina nodded. “And then when I come back through. Maybe we could spend New Year’s together if the timing is right,” she offered in a hopeful tone. “So can I get a kiss goodbye?” Robin rolled her eyes, grinning too wide for the expression to be anything but fond. She cupped her girlfriend’s face in her hands before leaning down to kiss her. It was slow, deep. Every time they kissed, Robin’s heart felt like it grew twice the amount the Grinch’s did. This was no exception, and that feeling stayed long after Nina pulled out of the parking lot.  
She didn’t even notice Steve come up next to her until he said. “Alright, that’s enough. Put the heart eyes away and help me alphabetize the scifi section.” As they made their way over, Steve asked, “So is she a good kisser?”  
Instead of a response, Robin just snorted and chucked a _Back to the Future_ tape at his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think down in the comments!


	6. December 18th (El's Friday)

El shifted her weight from foot to foot while watching her family load the rest of their suitcases. The newest Byers wasn’t normally jittery, but El kept feeling a tug from her heart towards the direction of Hawkins. She had tried to explain the feeling to Will, but the words she said couldn’t quite encapsulate the feeling. Will had squeezed her hand, reminding her that the danger was gone and their friends were safe. Both of them needed to hear those words sometimes, but they didn’t sooth El like usual. No, this feeling was screaming she needed to get back now.  
Everyone climbed into the car for the three hour journey back to Fort Byers. Mrs. Byers, with money from her higher paying job, paid people to insulate the cabin so it would be habitable for a longer stay than Thanksgiving. It made El happy she still had a home in Hawkins. It hurt to remember how it looked before, but it’s how she knew she would always remember Hopper.  
With Mrs. Byers and Jonathan in the front and Will beside her, El took a deep breath before closing her eyes. The sporadic chatter from the front mixed with the electronic beeping of Will’s game to lull the young girl asleep.  
I_t was dark where she was at. No. Where she was dreaming she was at. El knew it was a dream by the way she could still faintly hear the car humming underneath her and Will cursing softly at his game. The girl tried to follow her way back to the sounds, but a hand clamped around her wrist suddenly. El gasped and turned to see Kali. Their numbered wrists touched, causing a spark to go up her arm. “Kali?”_  
_ The young woman was breathing hard with a panicked look in her eyes. “The labs. Don’t you feel it? They’re calling.” El tried yanking her hand away, but Kali’s grip was too strong. “We have to burn them. All of them.”_  
_ “Burn the lab?” El was trying to understand, but it was hard to hear over the sound of her pounding heartbeat. “It’s empty, Kali. I closed the gate.”_  
_ “No,” a little boy’s voice drifted to El’s ears. “Sissy burned our lab because it wasn’t empty. It killed Bubba before I could save him.” El gasped and pivoted in Kali’s grip to find the voice’s source. The boy, who couldn’t have been older than ten, was small and trembling with wide eyes. He placed a hand on her already enclosed wrist, a black 015 bumping against her own 011. “I couldn’t save him. It killed him.”_  
_ “What? How,” El breathed the questions shakily. She couldn’t look away from his sad, scared eyes. Instead of answering a single tear rolled down the boy’s cheeks._  
“What? How?” El inhaled sharply as her eyes snapped open. “I can never get passed Bogey after level fifteen,” Will groaned in frustration before tossing the game into his bag. He looked over at El and furrowed his brows. “Are you ok?”  
El nodded automatically. “I was dreaming. I’ll tell you later. Promise.” Will wasn’t completely satisfied, but he nodded and looked out the window as the Hawkins sign flashed by. El didn’t know what she was going to tell. Just because it was a dream didn’t mean it wasn’t real, but it didn’t feel like a dream at all.  
“We’re almost there, guys,” Mrs. Byers announced brightly. “I’ve got to stop by a store first to buy us some food before we head to the cabin, but after that you guys are free to do what you want.” The store the family pulled into happened to be adjacent to Planet Video, so Will announced he and El were going to pick a movie instead of grocery shopping. Mrs. Byers waved them away with a smile, “Tell Steve and Robin I said hi.”  
Both teens nodded, and El followed after Will shakier than normal. As they pushed their way through the doors, Steve’s voice being a very rehearse greeting, “Welcome to Planet Video. Our videos are-Will, El!” Something in El loosened as she saw both Steve and Robin smiling from behind the counter. Both teens ran up to the young adults, wrapping them in a hug. “Wow, two suprise visits in a day. I could get used to this.” El pulled back, not sure what that meant. It became clear it was meant for Robin when the freckled girl elbowed him with a blush.  
“We weren’t supposed to come back until next week but Mom decided we might as well go while her store is closed for renovations,” Will announced with a smile.  
“Nice to have you weirdos back,” Robin said while ruffling Will’s hair. “I’d say it’s been too dull without you but we’ve been relaxing happily since finals.”  
“College is hard,” El said with a determined nod. Robin and Steve laughed in agreement. Their conversation continued on about recent events. El listened for anything that could be related to her dream, but the most supernatural event was a herd of deer that refused to leave downtown for an entire afternoon. The young girl giggled at Steve’s attempt to impersonate a buck running into the glass doors of Planet Video.  
Eventually Mrs. Byers honked her car horn from the parking lot. The teens left, completely forgetting a video in favor of getting back to the cabin where their friends were sure to already be.  
~~~  
The six friends had been at the cabin for the entire day. Mrs. Byers and Jonathan both went their separate ways to see their separate people, leaving the teens to their own devices. It was quiet now. El wanted to feel as relaxed as everyone else, but the dream still rang in her ears. Kali said labs, and El had a bad feeling that the young woman wasn’t just talking about the two labs that resided in Hawkins.  
Mike bump his knuckles against her knee. She glanced down at the boy laying in her lap. “What are you thinking about?” El brushed hair from out of her boyfriend’s eyes, trying to find a way to say everything she was worried about.  
“I’ve been having dreams,” she started. Everyone in the room turned their attention to her, waiting for her to find the words. “At first I would just see flashes of Kali. My sister.” The gifted girl bit her lip with nerves. “Sometimes I could see others with her who I’ve never seen. They would look worried but I never knew why.” El looked at Will who already had wide eyes pinned to her. “Today I dreamed, and Kali talked to me. She said the labs are calling.”  
“Labs?” Dustin interrupted with two questions. “As in more than one?” El nodded slowly.  
“What did she mean they’re calling,” Max asked with a furrow between her brows.  
El tapped the middle of her chest twice. “I felt it last time we had to leave. The more distance, the worse the tugging.” Will’s lips parted with shock as his eyes sharpening in understanding. “Then a little boy came. He didn’t say what, but something killed a ‘bubba’.” El said, still not fully understanding.  
“Bubba isn’t a thing, it’s a person. Lots of kids call their brothers Bubba. Kinda like how Holly calls Nancy ‘sissy’,” Mike said while sitting up from El’s lap.  
“I think he had a sissy too,” El thought back. “He said she burned the lab. Has there been a fire here?” The four Hawkins residents shook their heads. “If it wasn’t just a dream, that means there are labs in other places…”  
“...and that little boy probably came from one of them. Was he like you,” Lucas finished her train of thought.  
EL slowly nodded. “He was Fifteen.”


	7. December 18th, 1987 (Steve's Friday)

Across town from the Party’s puzzling, Steve was cleaning out the cash register after Robin clocked out for the night. He let her go early since she was in the store with Keith alone all morning. It was closing time, and he had plans to call Monique--yes he had finally learned College Algebra’s name-- and try to make another date happen. They had gone on four already and he had a really great idea for their fifth.  
The entrance bell dinged suddenly, and Steve scowled at the little kid that had walked in. “The store’s closed kid. Come back tomorrow.” The young man glanced into the dark parking lot, only to find no car had dropped the kid off. The little boy just walked in and began making his way to Steve. “Uh, did you not hear me? We aren’t open,” Steve said a little louder.  
The boy just stood on his tiptoes at the counter and said, “I need to find my sissy.” Steve’s head fell forward with a sigh. He liked kids, hell he wanted a career helping them, but he did not have the energy tonight.  
“Do you know your number? We can call your family to pick you up.” The little kid brightened at that, nodded enthusiastically. His black curly hair fell across the wide blue eyes. “Ok, tell me what it is so I can call them.” Steve’s finger was poised above the phone, waiting.  
Instead of rattling off a phone number, the kid yanked the sleeve up his arm. “Fifteen,” the kid declared the number, not of a telephone, but of himself.  
_Holy shit_. Steve, jaw dropped, slowly lowered the phone from his ear to rest on the switch, effectively cutting off the dial tone. The young man’s thoughts were as silent at the video store. Another single thought pinged through: _holy_ fucking _shit_. The little boy just watched Steve with a tilt to his head. His arm was still bare, and the young man’s eyes were locked on the black type print 015.  
“Do you know what number your sister is?” Steve’s mind began whirring again. He picked up the phone, ready to dial the cabin’s number and tell El she had a sibling other than that Kali chick she met once, but again the kid shocked him. With a grin the little boy simply said, “Nine.”  
“I don’t think your sister is here, buddy,” Steve said slowly, trying not to startle the kid. The boy frowned and shook his head.  
“But I felt the tug. Right here.” He tapped on his chest once, twice, thrice before looking expectantly at Steve.  
“I, uh, have a friend with a tattoo like yours. But it’s not nine. I could take you to her. She’s good at finding people.” The boy, pondering with an incredibly adult expression, nodded his agreement. “Ok, I just have to put the money away and lock the door. Then we can go.” The kid just continued to watch as Steve yanked the cash box out. In his haste to get through his closing duties, he nicked his thumb on its sharp corner as he locked it in the safe. Steve grabbed the keys and shook his hand out to get rid of the sting. As he passed the kid, a small hand grabbed his wrist.  
Steve looked down, and the kid was moving his hand towards the bleeding cut on his thumb. Before the young man could say anything, the boy pressed a finger down. Steve watched, silent in awe, as the thin cut started to disappear, corners to middle. Eventually all that was left was a small amount of blood. The boy then let go of his hand.  
Not knowing what to say, Steve just continued to lock the doors, barely looking away from his thumb. The two left through the back, and the only thing Steve could make himself say: ‘thanks’. He made the boy buckle into the backseat before driving off towards the woods.  
He couldn’t calm the tapping of his fingers on the wheel. There was a constant loop of confusion circling through his brain, but he didn’t have much to say. The kid didn’t either, preferring to swing his legs that were dangling down the back seat. A couple minutes in, Steve looked in the rear view mirror before asking, “So how old are you?” The kids legs stopped swing around as he took in the question.  
“Sissy got me a cake shaped like an eight this year.” The leg swinging commenced.  
“Do you go by anything different than Fifteen?” El had told him how her mom always wanted her to be named Jane, but wasn’t sure if this kid had any connection with his own mom. Maybe his sister gave him a name.  
“Sissy sometimes calls me Baby Blue. Or Blue.” Steve nodded, catching the baby blue eyes in his mirror. Made sense.  
The rest of the drive was in silence. There were so many questions, but he knew he should wait until El was there. He was quiet for an eight year old. The only noises made were when his feet accidentally connected with something while they swung around. When Steve parked the car in front of the cabin, the door was cracked slightly. It then swung open to reveal Dustin, who yelled, “Steve? What are you doing here?”  
“I have someone that needs to talk to El,” Steve explained while stepping out of his car. The young man opened the back door and helped ‘Blue’ unbuckle. The boy hopped out on his own, but reached to hold Steve’s hand. The pair then walked up to the cabin door where all the teens had gathered.  
El pushed past her friends to stand in front. The girl paled suddenly. Before Steve could ask her what was wrong, a wide smile overtook Blue’s face. “I know you! You’re suppose-ta help kill the monsters!”  
Everyone looked at one another, realization slowly sinking in to everyone except Steve, who felt very far behind in the information game. “So,” El started slowly. “It wasn’t a dream.”  
“It was,” Blue contradicted. Steve, baffled even more than before, shushed Dustin’s ‘_that makes literally no sense_’. “That’s how Seven talks.”  
“Oh my god there’s even more of them. I’m not ready to handle this,” Dustin said faintly, looking down at the boy in shock.  
Steve agreed completely, but he powered through his evermounting confusion. “How about we all go inside. He needs help finding someone. And maybe some food too.” As they made their way into the cabin, Steve looked heavenward. The stars winked back at him, as if they were about to tell him the punchline of this cosmic joke.


	8. December 18th, 1987 (Joyce's Friday)

Joyce couldn’t describe what she was feeling with one word. She’s had the feeling before. Many. Many times. But sitting at the cabin’s table across from the tiny boy in front of her brought the feeling back in full force, and it was alarming how she couldn’t describe the emotion.  
Overwhelmed. Astounded. Smaller than an ant. The mother’s eyes looked to her right at her youngest son before adding another to the list. Fearful.  
Coming back from dinner with Murray to find an unknown child was strange, and the teens’ heads that whipped around to stare at her as she came in built upon the oddity. She had said a cautious hello, but the question ‘who is this’ never left her mouth. It had lodged in the mother’s throat when her eyes locked with Steve Harrington. The tension had tightened his eyes and mouth thinner than normal. Looking at him now, Joyce realized it hasn’t left yet.  
“So, let me get this straight.” Joyce looked over her kids once more before looking at the young outsider. “You walked here to find your sister. And you thought your sister was here because you had a feeling in your chest.” The nod of confirmation worried the mother. “Where did you walk from?” If the boy’s thinness was any indication, it was a very long walk with very little food.  
The boy shrugged. “I dunno where I came from, but I knew I had to come here. Sissy said to always follow your heart.” His wide blue eyes blinked as he slowly tapped the same place El had tapped hers during her explanation of how she knew the boy.  
“Do you know why Nine wasn’t with you,” Joyce asked. She didn’t think anyone would willingly leave this boy--Blue he asked to be called. The mother knew, glancing at El as she thought, that kids don’t align themselves this fiercely with just anyone.  
“I couldn’ go with her. It was too dangerous. Do you have anymore peanut bu’er?” Steve turned around, grabbing a glass for water. He handed it to the boy before making the requested sandwich. Joyce could sense the teens’ agitation at the eight year old’s short answers. They had apparently been asking Blue things for close to an hour before her arrival. They didn’t get very far.  
“What was too dangerous,” Joyce tried to cox an answer.  
Blue spoke between bites, words not fully formed around the peanut butter. “She an’ Six kep’ goin’ to diff’rent labs ‘cause they could feel the mons’ers in ‘em. I stayed with Seven. And Marty. He helped save us from the lab.”  
“Have you met Kali,” El questioned, obviously picking up on the kid’s track record of knowing others like herself. “Do you know where Eight is?”  
Blue swallowed the last of his sandwich before responding. “Seven said he had to go find Eight. He dreamed she needed help with a monster she found. I was with Marty until…” Joyce waited, but the little boy didn’t continue. Dustin was shifting on his feet, and Joyce could tell he was fighting the urge to scream ‘until what!’. She was doing that herself. But she knew, in the same way El didn’t talk about somethings, Blue wouldn’t either.  
“Do you know anything about the monsters,” Steve asked carefully.  
Blue leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table and his head on his fists. The little boy’s cheeks squished up a little. “Sissy said ours had been in the lab since I was four.” _Oh god_, Joyce thought. 1983, the year Will went missing. “But ours didn’ come ta life until July last year.” _An entire year after the gate was closed for good_.  
Joyce put her head in her hands as Max asked Blue, “So there was only one monster in your lab. How do you know there’s more?”  
“Seven had a dream about it. He said there’s one in each lab. An’ Sissy said if there are more labs, there are more monsters.”  
“So what lab are you from? How did you kill your monster?” El looked apprehensive, and Joyce knew the girl well enough to know she was on edge. Hopper had confided in the mother that El had been hurt not just physically after the (first) gate closer. There was an enormous load of trauma experienced in that place, and Joyce hoped the lab would remain a distant building in a town they no longer live in.  
“I think the sign said Terry Hot,” the little boy began in an unsure tone. Terre Haute, Joyce’s mind automatically supplied. Jesus that’s at least a two-day walk to Hawkins. “We went back to the lab awhile after we escaped,” Blue began, fiddling with the paper towel near his hand. “‘Cause we could all feel something was weird even though the mean grownups left after I turned four.” His thin hands were tearing at the towel now. “An’ we went in an’ the monster could do everything we could do. It couldn’t die for a really long time ‘cause I…’cause I can fix things if they’re broken so it could too. An’ Sissy tried to hurt it, but it wasn’t hurt ‘cause it could do the same thing. When Bubba…”  
Blue had trailed off. His gaze was still on the shredded heap of napkin underneath his still moving hands. El moved from one side of the room to another and stilled the tearing with her hands. “I lost someone too. To a different monster.” Suddenly, Joyce felt her eyes burn as the last memory she had of Hopper alive flew into her mind. “You don’t have to talk about how it happened if it hurts too much. Just tell us how it died.”  
Drops fell from Blue’s eyes, but he did as El asked. “It couldn’t use two gifts at once, so only one gift couldn’t hurt it. Bubba couldn’t hurt it ‘cause it could do the same thing, so he…,” Blue broke off, sniffing loudly before continuing. “So he distracted it while Sissy hurt it until it died. But I couldn’t move until Sissy killed it ‘cause I wouldn’t gotten shocked so I couldn’t fix Bubba an’ he…” Joyce got up from her seat and hugged the boy tight through his sobbing.  
The mother’s focus was solely on the small, heartbroken boy in her arms. Occasionally she could make out a word or two, but she would just shush him before resuming a soothing rock. The kids drifted towards the other wall, trying to puzzle together the bits of information Blue could give, but Joyce let them be for now. She heard Steve leave--something about going to see Robin--but she never looked up from Blue.  
He came up for air eventually, face blotchy and wet. “I gotta find my sissy, please,” he begged desperately. The boy’s grip on her shirt tightened. “I gotta know she’s ok.” His wide, baby blue eyes were still filled with tears of grief and building panic. Joyce found herself nodding, and the mother glanced at the boy’s only hope of finding his sister. It was an offer only El could give.  
And offer she did. “I can help if you have something of hers, maybe just a photo.”  
Joyce pulled away from the boy as he moved towards his only belonging, a Thundercats backpack. In went his trembling hand and out came a letter with a picture clipped to the corner. “Will this work?”  
El just simply nodded.


	9. December 18th, 1987 (Robin's Friday)

Robin glanced at the clock again, confirming that it wasn’t nine o'clock. She had been waiting since she came home from Planet Video for it to reach that hour. Nina always called at nine o’clock every Friday after she had gotten home from work, and Robin really wanted to hear her voice again.  
Her girlfriend had visited last week, taking Robin out to tallest hill in Hawkins to look at the stars. It was sweet and romantic, like every cheesy date Robin had ever wished for (but never said out loud because it was lame how gooey it made her feel inside). When Nina dropped her off at home, Robin had to stop herself from inviting her inside...where her parents were.But Robin’s parents just left for the weekend, and if Nina could come visit, they could actually spend more than one day together.  
They could have a movie marathon so Robin could fix her girlfriend’s sad state of pop culture knowledge, or go ice skating because her dorky girlfriend had never been, or just lay in bed all day, or...  
_You’re getting excited over nothing. She might still say no,_ Robin tried to remind herself. Lights drifted through her bedroom window, distracting Robin from her thoughts. They flicked off, and she heard a car door slam. The young woman walked over to the window, peering out as Steve approached her front door. _What the hell_?  
Robin jogged down the stairs of the empty house and pulled open the door. “Harrington, this is a surprise.”  
“Yeah, sorry, I should have called.” The young man ran a hand through his hair. “I need to talk to you about something.”  
“Come in then,” Robin said, voice colored with confusion. Steve stepped through the doorway, allowing the young woman to shut the door and lock it. “Is everything ok,” she asked as the young man repeated his nervous tick, pushing his locks upwards.  
“Are your parents around,” Steve asked instead of answering Robin’s question. “Something, ya know, El related happened.”  
“Oh shit, no they aren’t around. What happened,” the freckled girl asked as she lead her unexpected guest over to the couch. “Is it Russians or Americans this time?”  
“Who knows who’s actually responsible. All I know is that El apparently comes from a lot larger of a family than she originally said.”  
~~~  
“--I’m telling you, the kid is only eight, but I know he’s right about this. I mean, El said she had the exact same feeling. Honestly, I’m surprised no one in town’s been eaten yet. That’s usually how it starts.” Steve was up and pacing in front of Robin. She herself was sprawled on the floor, hands pressed against her forehead in disbelief.  
“Are we more worried about the monsters or about the multiplication of freaky gifted kids that were government experiments? Because how do we know the others didn’t like, bring the monsters back? I mean wasn’t El the one who opened the gate in the first place?” How did this much happen after she left Planet Video? Nothing interesting happens there.  
“Technically it’s her fault about the gate thing, but she was young and doing what she was told. And if Blue has all the details right, at least one of them died trying to stop this thing. Priority one: monsters Priority two: El’s freaky family reunion.” Steve collapsed onto the couch and let out a sigh. “I thought this nightmare was over.”  
Robin just hummed in agreement, still absorbing all the information thrown at her. “To be fair, the universe likes us just enough to not get in the way of college work. Plus, you never know, we could lead a monster into Planet Video to give us an excuse to change jobs again.”  
Steve’s laughter sounded slightly hysterical. “If I wouldn’t be worried about dying in Planet Video because of that stunt, I’d definitely do it. We can’t let our ghosts haunt just any old place.” Soon Robin started laughing with Steve. Their lives were ridiculous, and while she was glad she got to survive a Russian invasion with her formed family, she’d like things to go back to less supernatural surprises.  
Their giggles stopped, only to resume when Robin announced, “Congratulations on the new child acquisition. I knew there’d be more after Dusty-Bun.” The pair lay like that for a while, Steve on the couch, and Robin on the floor. Soon their laughter actually halted as their brains finally wrapped around the situation. “I don’t know how you did this so many times. I’m freaking out about there being a repeat offense in Hawkins but it’s actually the fourth. I just didn’t know about the other two. How did I not know I was in so much danger?”  
“Nah, everyone kinda knew,” Steve said softly. “But they only convinced themselves they didn’t know because they could never see the threat. I think we all felt it, we just wished it wasn’t true. This time is different. I thought we were safe for good.” His voice was thick, and Robin reached over to hold the hand that was dangling off the side of the couch.  
“We’re way safer than before. Everyone that needs to know is in the loop. We all finally have the same information at the same time. Besides,” Robin teased, trying to lighten the mood, “It’s not like we have to take down a Russian operation. It’s just one thing at one place. We’ve got this.”  
“Yeah, you’re right.” Steve didn’t actually sound convinced, but Robin wasn’t either. There were so many unknowns. There were random gifted people who were already going to other labs. Labs the Hawkins residents didn’t know the extent or danger of. Not to mention the monsters that formed in the labs and could do the exact same thing as said random gifted people. Somehow Robin doubted it would be as simple as she tried to make it.  
Hawkins was shitstorm prone, and this was the first time there was any warning of its approach. Robin sat up with a groan, back stiff from lying on the floor for so long. “Come on, let’s just go to bed. We’ll go to the cabin and make sure everyone is ok in the morning. My brain’s too fried to think about anything scarier than counting sheep at this point.” Steve huffed a laugh before taking Robin’s offered hand. She pulled him up and off the couch before walking upstairs. “That bedroom is free,” the young woman said while pointing. “Toothbrush is under the sink. We go together in the morning, so don’t leave without me.” Steve nodded along to her sleepy mumbles. Both young adults said their goodnights, and Robin went into her room to collapse face-first onto her bed.  
Had she been more awake, Robin would’ve realized that her clock read twelve o’ clock on the dot. Had she been less distracted by supernatural terrorism, Robin would’ve noticed her girlfriend never called.


	10. December 19th, 1987 (Lucas's Saturday)

Lucas and Dustin had each gone home to get some supplies before the friends began sorting through the messy narrative Blue painted last night. The dark-skinned boy marched up the steps of the cabin, having returned after Dustin, whose bike was propped against a tree near the door. Arms full, he kicked at the door to be let in.  
Max opened the door with a ‘hey’ before taking some of the things in her boyfriend’s arms. Lucas kissed her in thanks. When his eyes looked over her face, the kiss had left her smiling, but not enough to lessen the tension pulling at the corners of her blue eyes. “Come on, Stalker,” his girlfriend said with a half smirk while moving into the cabin. He followed, setting the corkboard--a nightmarish thing to transport with a bike--against the wall opposite of the kitchen.  
“Ok, so,” Lucas clapped to get everyone’s attention. “The last few times disasters happened, we were not as organized as we could have been. Mrs. Byers is telling Murray about everything after she and Blue find clothes for him to wear, Steve told Robin last night, and Jonathan and Nancy will be told once they arrive here. Considering we have an enormous chunk of information to share, we need to break it down.” The Dustin passed out paper and pens before turning his attention to Lucas and the blank the corkboard.  
“Let’s start with the facts.” Lucas numbered papers 006-015 before tacking each to the board. “Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Eleven, and Fifteen are all confirmed to be alive and in the know about whatever is going on in these labs.” The boy illustrated this by writing _ALIVE_ under each number.  
“One of these numbers is dead, but we can’t really ask Blue because he is eight and Mrs. Byers is worried about him becoming too traumatized to talk,” Dustin said quickly, trying to gloss over the memory of the kid sobbing for close to an hour last night. “We know El and Kali came from here.” Lucas nodded along and wrote _HAWKINS LAB_ underneath their respective numbers. “Blue said he and Nine came from Terre Haute. Six and Seven didn’t, but we can’t be sure if they came from the same lab or not.”  
Lucas finished writing as Max approached the board with string. The dark-skinned teen handed her tacks before standing back and listening. “So if all Blue said is still true, Nine and Six are together, and Seven and Kali should be together too.” The strings joined the pairs, and Max added a third string connecting El to Blue’s number.  
“Doesn’t that mean there are at least two of those monsters Blue was talking about,” Will wondered out loud. “If there is one monster per lab, that means there’s two more labs in addition to Terre Haute and Hawkins.” Everyone nodded in agreement, and Lucas bulleted a piece of paper titled ‘List of Labs’ with for dots.  
He stuck the paper to the bottom of the board before turning to his friends. “Let’s talk about powers. El?” The girl nodded and stood next to the board. “Did we decide Telekinesis was the best word that fit your ability?”  
“Don’t forget ESP,” Dustin interjected.  
“Yes, it was the best one. And Kali could make you see things that weren’t there, and sometimes she could see things that had the possibility of happening.” Lucas just nodded along, writing _ILLUSIONS_ under Eight. “When Blue talked about how Seven dreamed Kali needed help, it sounded like how Kali could see ahead, but his might be days ahead instead of minutes.” _CLAIRVOYANCE_ was written underneath ______ LAB_ on Seven’s card.  
“Didn’t Seven make you dream about Kali? And Blue said that was his way of communicating, right,” Mike added. “Put clairvoyance and dream communication.” Lucas did as he was told and then stood back to look at the board.  
“Steve said Blue healed a cut on his finger,” Lucas muttered to himself, writing _HEALER_ under Fifteen. “We don’t know about anyone else do we? He didn’t really tell us what his sister did.” ‘_No_’ left multiple mouths in agreement. “Moving on to the monsters.”  
“We’ve got to call them something better than that,” Dustin said with a wrinkle to his nose. “They sound like they can shift which powers they use easily. Like an abilityshifter instead of a shapeshifter.”  
“Almost like a Slaad,” Will offered in agreement. Lucas wrote out _SLAAD_ and _abilityshifter--can only use one ability at a time, is immune to the ability they are using at the time._  
“We don’t really know how they got the abilities, but there has to be some connection between the Slaad and everyone with abilities. If there wasn’t a connection, El wouldn’t feel drawn to the lab, right?” Mike looked around at the various nods.  
Lucas wrote down _connection with abilities_, paused, and then added _or labs_. “We don’t really know why Kali told El in the dream that she could feel the labs instead of saying something about the monsters. Blue never really talked about the Slaad being somewhere other than labs. If we assume the other labs are like our lab, there’s got to be a reason they stay there.”  
Max joined onto his train of thought. “When the gate closed for good, the Mind Flyer was so far away from it that it died as soon as its connection was cut off. Maybe things from the Upside Down can still be alive if they’re close enough to where the gate once was.”  
“Yeah, they could’ve mutated into the abilities to survive outside of the Upside Down. If Blue said the Slaad were already there when they escaped the lab at Terre Haute, but just now became a threat, it could’ve been like a learned trait or something.” Dustin spoke with his hands flying every which way.  
“No,” El said simply. “I didn’t learn, I was made. They might have been made the same way.” Lucas remembered how she explained to the group just what happened with her mother. The woman underwent drug exposure during experimentation which lead to El getting abilities. That’s why she was kidnapped right after she was born. “It could have happened on accident too if the drugs were kept somewhere.”  
“We don’t know how they were made, but we do know they can be killed. El can’t just do it alone though. And Blue said he couldn’t help either. We need someone else with abilities,” Mike concluded.  
“Nine,” El said suddenly. “I couldn’t see where she was when I was looking for her.” El closed her eyes, remembering last night’s events. “But she was talking to someone. She said they had to hurry and kill ‘it’.” Blue had confirmed El’s description of Nine was that of his ‘sissy’. While the young boy was disappointed that her location was still a mystery, he thanked El with a hug. The peace of mind that came with knowing his sister was a least alive allowed him to fall asleep within the hour.  
“If they do hurry and kill it, she’ll know Blue is missing. I would assume if we are the only lab left, she’d look for him here first. _And_ if Seven is clairvoyante, at some point he’ll see that we need his help. That’s why he went to Kali in the first place,” Lucas said while staring at the board the Party put together. “I just hope we’re right about them not being able to leave the lab. Because we can wait for the others all day while the thing sits in the lab, but if it moves toward town, we don’t have anything to stop it.”  
The door creaked as it opened quickly. All teens jumped, startled by the intruder. Jonathan walked through the door, hands up in appeasement. “Did we just hear you say something about stopping something? What did you guys do now,” Nancy asked, stepping around Jonathan. Both young adults’ gaze went towards the board. “Woah, we missed a lot, huh.” The teens nodded solemnly in response.  
Will gestured to the nearest air mattress. “Take a seat. We’ve got a lot to explain.”  
Lucas shared a tired look with Max, took a deep breath, and began the crash course of how the universe is fucking with them yet again.


	11. December 19th, 1987 (Steve's Saturday)

Steve reversed his car, unfinished waffle hanging from his mouth. “So what’s this lab like anyway? I saw news about it in the papers, but every time I looked for it, I couldn’t find it.” Robin sounded distracted, and when Steve looked over to answer, he saw her painting her nails a bright crimson.  
“Hey, no, stop that.” He put the car in gear and pulled the waffle out of his mouth before biting a chunk out of it. Steve continued to talk, mouth full. “If that gets on my car I will hurt you. Worse then that creepyass lab. I’ve never been in it, but I’ve stared at it a couple of times from the outside. Bad vibe. Probably haunted considering all the people that died there.”  
Robin hummed, only paying attention to the information she needed and disregarding the threat. “How big is it? Will it be obvious there’s a monster in there, or will we be forced to hunt around like those god awful horror movies?”  
“It’s massive,” Steve responded after swallowing the last of his breakfast. “But I guess it’ll just depend on the size of what we’re hunting. The real question is will it be us hunting the thing?” Based on the tiny eight year old’s analysis, the ordinary humans without any abilities wouldn’t be much use.  
“I don’t know. It wouldn’t feel right letting El walk in there with people we’ve never met before. Worse comes to worst, we could throw fireworks at it.” Steve pulled onto the dirt road that led to the cabin.  
Steve huffed a laugh. “It’s not cool to pull the same move twice, Buckley. But I doubt it’ll be this much of a news scandal if we do end up blowing the lab up.” The pair sat in silence for the rest of the drive. Once Steve parked, they both walked to the front door and opened it without knocking.  
The scene was a mess. Murray had officially taken over the corkboard that most likely started out innocent enough. Steve followed Robin through the doorway and plopped next to Dustin on an air mattress. “He’s gone nuts,” Dustin said faintly. The older man was pacing, muttering to himself. Occasionally he would write a question on the board, but no answer would follow. The entire audience looked worn out, excluding Blue who was absently eating cereal while watching the show.  
“Did we miss something important,” Robin’s voice was hushed, as if afraid a louder noise would cause Murray to flip shit.  
“Steve filled you in on everything right?” The freckled girl nodded at Dustin’s question. “Well really the only thing new is that El saw Blue’s sister, but that wasn’t really helpful because she was just in a field. There was no way for El to find out where she was. El was going to try again, but someone showed up and made our information board into a conspiracy.”  
“Who exactly invited Murray,” Steve questioned. “This isn’t really his area. I know it was a government facility, but these things popped up after the scientists left. I’m betting this is all supernatural.”  
Will rolled his eyes from the air mattress next to them. “Mom said she wanted more adults than just her in on it. As if adult control has ever prevented us from doing anything crazy dangerous.” Robin chuckled and leaned over to ruffle his hair.  
Steve watched as El got up and cleared her throat. Murray stopped muttering and looked at the young girl. “I would like to find Nine now. It requires silence.” Joyce caught on and lead Murray outside, telling the man to walk with her and get fresh air.  
El got right to work, turning on a radio and blindfolding herself. She was holding a folded up letter in her hand, just needing that extra something to focus on. Steve glanced around, wondering what everyone else was supposed to do while the girl worked her magic. Blue’s footsteps interrupted the silence as he walked over to Steve.  
The little boy sat on the ground, but leaned against the young man’s knees. His baby blue eyes were focused on El, wide and hopeful. Robin was looking at Blue curiously, but there would be time to answer her questions later.  
“She’s walking out of a big building. Like Hawkins Lab, but it’s falling apart. There’s a sign. A-v-o-n.” Robin and Steve glanced at each other. That was almost four hours from Hawkins, just barely in the Indiana state line. “She’s helping someone into a car. They’re talking…” El trailed off in concentration. Her nose began to drip blood.  
In a flurry of movement, El ripped her blindfold off. “It got away. They couldn’t kill it.”  
“Wait it can leave the lab,” Steve questioned, panicked at the realization that an avoidance of the lab wouldn’t be enough to be safe. Dustin swore beside him. Blue tilted his head to look at Steve. The black curls fell backwards with gravity, leaving the wide eyes out in the open.  
“I feel different. Here.” He was tapping on the middle of his chest. Steve saw El nod in his peripheral vision, but didn’t look away from the kid. “It feels like I’m not in the right place even more now.”  
“It’s tighter. Like what was calling us before is pulling even harder,” El elaborated.  
Dustin swore again. “You mean like how a black hole pulls more things in the more it grows? Did the thing at the lab grow, or did the one that escaped join it. Because if El has a live feed, that was was really quick to escape.”  
“We need to find a way to communicate with them. Tell them it came here,” Mike said. “The only way to stop it, or them if it’s more than two, is with another ability that’s offensive.”  
“Mike’s right,” Nancy said from the back corner. “We should only try to fight it if it goes outside of the lab. We can’t risk our lives before we get an opening to hurt it. It’d just be suicide.”  
“But how are we supposed to communicate,” Steve asked. “Avon is at least for fours away from here, and the only person that has contacted El is Dream Guy who was so unhelpful, he didn’t even elaborate who or where he was.”  
“Worst case scenario, thing comes out of the lab with El’s ability, making it virtually impossible to stop before it goes on a killing spree. Best case scenario, the thing stays in the lab, and the others come soon to help eliminate the thing.” Robin shrugged. “I’ve always been taught to prepare for worst case scenario until we have all the information...which we don’t.”  
Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck. “So we try to evacuate the city. Or maybe find a way to lure it further into the woods behind the lab. Get weapons and traps for all sized animals and find a way to distract it long enough for backup to come.”  
Steve bit his lip, not feeling any better with the only reasonable path to follow laid out so clearly. In that clear distance, the young man knew that waiting for someone to come, without knowing what it was, would be a disaster case scenario. No plan would help, and it would be left to them once again to stop Hawkins from becoming the supernatural ground zero. Again.


	12. December 19th, 1987 (El's Saturday)

Most had already left the cabin, gathering things for Worst Case Scenario. El was in a hammock behind the cabin, arms crossed under her head and eyes closed. She was trying to poke and prod at the tightness in her chest, hoping it would help her suddenly understand everything that was happening. It was exhausting fighting things you were one step behind. Before the feeling had amplified, the gifted girl actually thought the thing--Slaad--wouldn’t be a threat.  
Now though. Now El just listened to the forest around her in an attempt to focus. She was exhausted and found it difficult to think clearly. Her head was growing fuzzy with the need to sleep.  
_It felt like an accomplishment opening her heavy eyelids. When they did open, El could see a building. Lightning was crackling over it, flashing between heavy clouds. Each flash illuminated El’s field of vision until finally she could see everything clearly. Two figures burst through the doorway, one supporting the other’s weight. El could recognize Nine, and that had to mean the limping young adult next to her would be Six, dressed in a studded leather jacket and boots._  
_ There was a line dangling from Six’s painted nails that started somewhere from inside the building. “It should stay trapped wherever it went to as long as we demolish the lab.” Nine nodded, and they both slumped some distance from the front door. “I’d like to do the honors. I was trapped in that hell hole for too long.” Suddenly the scene froze except for Nine._  
_ Her head swiveled to El’s direction, braid whipping around behind her. “You’re closest. We can get there as soon as Six heals. Don’t let my brother near the thing.” An explosion shook the building and El turned her body away, shutting her eyes._  
_ When she opened them next she was staring into Kali’s eyes. “It’s coming to you. Don’t let them merge.” El lifted her hand to touch her sister, but Eight’s image scattered like mist. A new scene played before her. Kali was there alongside two boys and a girl similar to El’s age. All looking tired and drained. Fire danced in their eyes. Collectively, their wrists lifted to reveal their numbers. 007. 008. 010. 013._  
_ Seven started to speak. “We’ll be there soon.”_  
El woke with a start. The echo of a car door slamming caused her to turn her head. Her friends piled out of the Byers car and into the cabin, arms load with various instruments of destruction. The gifted girl planted her feet on the ground and walked away from the hammock. Will noticed her approach and offered a strained smile, that disappeared when he saw the look on her face. “What happened?”  
“Seven spoke to me again.” Her eyes drifted to Blue. “We can’t go to the lab until he’s here.”  
Mike groaned beside her, dropping his armfull to the ground. “Couldn’t he be more clear with his communications? Besides we already knew not to do that. We’re just preparing in case it comes out of the lab.”  
El shrugged, puzzling over everything in the dream. “I have things to add to the board.” The gifted girl went inside and started writing. Two new numbers were marked ALIVE, and Franklin was added to the list of labs, just under Avon. Max stood beside her, waiting for El to speak. “Seven, Eight, Ten, and Thirteen are coming soon. Nine said Six has to heal before they can get here.”  
“Anything new about the Slaad,” Will asked while he unpacked some of the traps they bought.  
“Kali said they could merge.”  
Dustin cursed loudly. “That’s why you can feel them more. If the one Nine and Six let get away merged with the one in our lab, it got bigger and stronger. Did your sister kill the one she was after?”  
El shook her head. Lucas groaned, dropping his head in his hand. “If that one is headed here, there’s no way we can stop it from getting bigger. It’ll probably be strong enough to leave the lab.”  
Mrs. Byers sat heavily onto a seat in the kitchen. “Just when we had a plan…” she trialed of mournfully. Jonathan walked behind his mother and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
“We can still carry out the plan. It hasn’t gotten here yet so we still have time, right?” El nodded along, desperate to do _something_. “Ok. Steve and Robin should be here soon to get some traps and things. We don’t have to go near the lab to set the traps, we can just make sure we lay them heavier along the forest border between here and the town.” Almost as if hearing their names, El could hear the roar of Steve’s car as it came closer to the cabin.  
“Ok guys, radios out. We have to set it to the same frequency. El,” Dustin handed the girl a radio before continuing. “Carry that with you at all times. Tell us as soon as you feel it merging.” Blue walked over to Steve as the young man walked through the door. “Steve, keep Blue with you and radio us if he feels anything too.”  
El looked around at her family. They all suited up, much too experienced in this situation. Mike walked up to her, hand brushing against the lock of hair that got into her eye. “We’re going together, yeah?” El nodded an affirmation. Her boyfriend held her hand and pulled her in for a kiss. It ended shorter than she would have liked, Dustin and Will’s fake gagging ruining the mood. The gifted girl rolled her eyes at the antics, used to it by now.  
She looked her boyfriend in the eye, squeezed his hand, and said, “Together.” The group split. Joyce left with Murray--something about calling the government--after kissing and hugging everyone goodbye. Nancy, Jonathan, Mike, El, and Will piled into Nancy’s car while Steve took Robin, Blue, Lucas, Dustin, and Max. After radio checks, the two cars diverged along the road skirting the town alongside the forest.  
El squeezed Mike’s hand in the back seat. The tightness in her chest remained the same intensity, but the worry she had made it even harder to breath. Something was telling her that these traps wouldn’t do anything more than irritate whatever was lurking in the lab.


	13. December 19th, 1987 (Robin's Saturday)

“I just can’t believe I missed her call and she didn’t even leave a message,” Robin muttered to herself as she locked another trap in place. Steve hummed in agreement, or perhaps irritation since the freckled girl had been on the same subject for the past half hour. “I was going to ask if she wanted to spend the weekend with me. Alone. But no, I fell asleep and dreamed a nightmare of dying at the hands of some freaky monster.”  
“Look, after we deal with this thing, you can go home and call her.” Robin sighed in frustration, despite Steve’s attempts to comfort her. Blue appeared on top of the hill the pair started to climb. “What’s up buddy? You hungry?” The kid nodded, black curls flopping up and down with the motion. Robin shrugged off the backpack filled with sandwiches and offered one to the boy once she and Steve reached the top. Blue munched happily, and Robin sat down with him.  
She looked out at the rest of the kids her and Steve were in charge of. They were slower, joking around as if not bothered their life was interrupted yet again by the supernatural. She just wanted a normal life again. One where the only thing she had to worry about was how to tell her parents she was in love with someone without a penis. Last year was just a taste of normalcy before everything came back to bite them in the ass.  
Blue finished his sandwich, and handed Robin the napkin it had been wrapped in. She shoved it in the bag to throw away later. They both stood up, waiting for the other kids to catch up before starting to walk again.  
The traps were being dispersed less than a mile up from the road, and they’d been walking for close to two hours now. The sun was getting lower in the sky, and soon everyone had devoured the sandwiches packed for dinner. “We’re almost out of traps,” Lucas said. The wagon he had been dragging behind him was empty save for five boxes.  
Dustin clicked on the radio, informing the others the traps weren’t enough to blanket their last section, the school. Robin tuned out the chatter as she snapped another trap in place. After the metallic clang finished echoing around the trees, the freckled girl heard a tiny gasp. Both her and Steve’s heads shot up and looked at Blue. His eyes were wide as a small hand came up to cover his chest. “Owie.”  
The young adults cursed and Steve shouted at Dustin to toss the radio. But before it could leave the boy’s hand, it crackled to life. Will was shouted from the other end. “It’s here. El can feel it, over.” _Shit, that was fast._  
“Blue can feel it too. We’re going to set the last of the traps and get back to the cabin ASAP, over and out.” Robin could hear the other group confirm the same plan before they cut out.  
As Robin set the last trap with the help of Max, she felt the ground underneath her begin vibrating. The redhead looked at the young woman in front of her. Robin slowly turned to survey the area. Everyone else had finished their trap, and they were looking around for the source. As Robin came full circle, she noticed through a gap in the trees their old school stood in the distance.  
“Steve,” she said in an overly calm voice. “The road leading us back to the car is down by the school. We should move. Now.” This put the group into motion, and they all started moving quickly downwards. Blue was struggling to keep up, legs still tiny despite his age. “Hop on kid, I’ll carry you.” She shrugged off the backpack and tossed it at Steve, who paused to wait for them.  
As they caught up to the kids, the ground vibrations became more pronounced and even. As if steps were coming closer. “My chest hurts,” Blue said in a scared voice right next to Robin’s ear. She wanted to reassure the kid, but her oxygen was being used to awkwardly jog through the woods with the boy on her back. A groaning noise sounded behind them, and Robin noticed Lucas looked back.  
Despite the distance between the two, Robin could see his eyes widen in fear. Steve, who was also looking over his shoulder, turned forward to shout. “We won’t make it to the car. Head into the school.” _Shit_. Robin resisted the urge to look behind her to find out _why_ they wouldn’t make it to the car.  
The group broke through the tree line. Steve was at the lead, and he paused at the gym door, kicking it in with ease. Robin let Blue drop off her back, and he ran into the gym. The wind picked up, whipping around her short hair while she turned in the doorway, finally seeing what they were running from.  
She could see its legs kicking away the traps, not paying any heed to the sharp teeth the group had hoped would harm it. As her gaze drifted upward, she noticed scales and mucus hung from its sides, and sharp teeth were bursting out of its mouth. Steve slammed the door closed, and Robin looked around for something to push in front of it. Not that it would do any good if the traps were anything to go by.  
“Should we hide or should we keep running,” Dustin asked in a voice slightly higher than normal. Before anyone could answer, the radio in his hand crackled to life.  
Mike’s voice echoed around the empty gym. “The Slaad merged together and left the lab. But then it split apart into two.” Dustin responded, telling him it was a little late considering the monster was minutes away from the school. Robin walked over to the bleachers, and climbed them to look out the window that the very top. The white clouds that had been shielding them from the sun all day looked the exact same except for the lightning streaking in between them.  
She could hear Blue climb up beside her. His baby blue eyes widened in what Robin considered amazement. The streaks of lightning were flashing by faster, illuminating the creature that tread closer. “Sissy’s coming,” the little boy beside her whispered. Robin glanced down in confusion.  
“How do you know?” The little boy simply pointed towards the sky, where lightning criss-crossed. If she had time to puzzle through the nonverbal response later, she would. It was getting harder to balance on the bleachers due to the vibrations from the monster’s footsteps. Robin grabbed Blue’s arm before he slipped off, and safely guided him back down to the center of the court where everyone else stood.  
Max tugged open the duffle bag that everyone except Robin filled with weapons. Her close-knit group of freaks all had something they preferred while she had never offensively harmed anyone before. Steve grabbed a bat, nails jammed into the barrel to make it resemble a mace. As he swung it around his hand, the young man glanced around at the kids arming themselves. “If you get the chance to run, run. We can’t be heroes against this thing.” Robin picked up a shotgun that had been stuffed in the bag.  
Exhaling slowly, she pumped the gun. The freckled girl noticed the group had subconsciously formed a semicircle in front of Blue, but she turned her attention to the front of the gym as the steps stopped thumping on the ground. Everyone stopped breathing, trying to catch any noise that would alert them to the monster’s first attack.  
The roof ripped off the building with a screech, and a reptilian-esque creature roared overhead, looking down at the kids with too many teeth. “Scatter,” Robin yelled, firing a shot upward to get the thing’s attention. She could hear Lucas doing the same with his slingshot from the other side of the room.  
Soon it was just her trying to distract the thing as Max pulled Lucas down a hallway and Steve pushed Dustin in the opposite direction. Her gun ran out of ammo, and it was then she realized the creature was never coming after the group at all. It’s eyes were trained solely on the owner of wide baby blue eyes paralyzed in fear.  
Robin tossed the gun to the side, picked up Blue, and ran as fast as she could.


	14. December 19th, 1987 (Will's Saturday)

“Drive faster,” Mike shouted from the seat next to Will, completely panicked. Will would have joined in, but his eyes couldn’t turn away from the thing following them. It was huge. Even after it split in two, the Slaad had to have been seven feet tall on all four legs.  
Jonathan swerved onto a paved road after having tried to lure the Slaad onto a trap or two. The metal teeth did nothing to halt its pace, so now Will’s brother was trying to outrun the thing. “Jonathan look out,” Nancy screeched. Will turned in his seat to see a car speeding toward them in the other direction.  
Mike crashed into Will, pinning him against the frame of the car as Jonathan yanked the steering wheel while pressing on the breaks. The lone cars stopped side by side, and the Slaad continued its approach with a roar. Will watched as El cranked down the window and leaned out of the car. Her hand extended outward, tattoo visible despite the time of night. A darker hand came out of the other car to hold El’s hand. Will could just barely make out 008.  
“We need to get out of the car. Now,” El said in a serious tone. Everyone did as asked, automatically facing the threat racing closer. “This is Kali, my sister,” El introduced to the group. Everyone jerked their head, to tense to be more cordial.  
Kali pointed her finger first to the oldest man who stepped out of the car, then to the boy and girl that were in the backseat. “That’s Seven, Ten, and Thirteen.” Seven was fair, tall, and thin with sandy hair and a stoic expression. Ten had an even tan with dark, almost black eyes that flitted around to take in all the details. Thirteen looked younger than El, but she was also taller, with a full afro of dark hair. “How long has it been since it left the lab?”  
“Half hour, hour tops,” Nancy said, eyes still focused on the reptilian-like creature.  
“Do you know what power it has right now?” Will, along with everyone else, shook his head. They’d been too busy driving away from it.  
“It was one thing, but we saw it split into two as soon as El felt it leave the lab,” Will offered instead. “The other one is by the school. Our friends are there and they have Fifteen with them.”  
Ten spoke up, voice deeper than Will expected. “The thing can kinda absorb your ability as soon as you use it.” His height was similar to Will, but the boy had broader shoulders, outfitted with muscle. “When they morph, they share abilities. We were hoping to avoid that, but…” Ten trailed off, gaze drifting over each of the Byers party before landing on Will. He raised an eyebrow and smirked, but said nothing more to suggest what was running through his head.  
It took more willpower than Will would care to admit to unlock his gaze from the mysterious boy and turn to Kali as she spoke to El. “Seven doesn’t have an offensive power so there’s going to be two people distracting and two people attacking. If the thing becomes immune, switch positions with someone else and distract it.”  
El glanced at the party behind her. “Try calling the others and tell them everything.” She hugged Mike fiercely before pulling Will in for a hug as well. The girl then walked without a backwards glance, fitting in beside the other three in perfect formation.  
Seven remained with them, stoic and nonverbal. Will grabbed the radio from Mike and started speaking. “This is Will, do you copy? The others are here. I repeat, El’s siblings are here. What’s your situation, over.” The signal was just filled with static. Will pressed the button and repeated his message, only to get the same response: silence.  
Mike took the radio from Will and tried at his own pace, leaving Will to stare at the Slaad. He saw it begin looking around, and the boy recognized Kali standing off to the side, probably causing illusions to fill the creature’s mind. El was standing in front, hand raised, but the thing appeared to be unaffected. Ten took his place beside El, raising his hand. Wind suddenly came from nowhere, blasting into the Slaad at full force. Will noticed Thirteen kneel, hands planted on the ground. A crack opened underneath the creature, but slammed shut. The Slaad, using Thirteen’s ability, caused the ground to quack ominously.  
Will turned to Mike.”There’s got to be a way to help them distract the Slaad. Maybe if it’s focused on us, more of them can use their powers.” Mike nodded and looked towards his sister, about to pass along the message. She and Jonathan had already started walking toward the thing. Will could hear Nancy pumping the gun she had in her hand. “Dude, your sister is badass.” Mike snorted in disgust before both boys ran after their siblings.  
As soon as they were close enough, Nancy planted her feet and shot upward into the thing’s eye. It screeched, blindly lashing its tail back and forth. Will watched, jaw dropped, as the eye began healing itself. “Nancy, shoot it again,” Will’s brother yelled. She aimed for the eye again.  
Will and Mike grabbed a trap and began to drag it forward. With the Slaad unable to see, they reset it directly under its feet and ran away. Wind tossed both he and Mike to the side just as the Slaad’s tail passed through the position the boys were just in. Will looked in Ten’s direction, but the tan boy was already focused on the monster. As Mike and Will went back to safety, their trap took a chunk out of the Slaad’s leg.  
El had been waiting for the monster to use Blue’s healing ability before using her Telekinesis to pin the Slaad to the ground. Thirteen knelt again, and a rocky spike drove itself through the beast’s middle. El raised her hand and screamed. The Slaad roared back, using Ten’s ability to force El away with the wind. Ten just propelled wind behind El, leaving her in the same position, just suspended in the air.  
She clenched her fist, and the effect was immediate. Will guessed El telekines-ed the Slaad’s heart to stop, because the beast lay still, slumped back on the rock impaling it with wide, sightless eyes. In the distance, lightning flickered across the clouds.  
Seven walked over to the group and motioned with his hands. Thirteen translated the signs. “We must destroy the lab in case the other beast uses Six’s transport ability. It won’t have anywhere else to go but there.”  
Will looked around at his friends and brother, realization suddenly setting in. Murray. Mom. They were trying to call the same people that showed up last time ready to blast away the Mind Flayer. “Our mom’s already on it.” El grinned in vicious agreement.  
“There’ll be nothing left of that place once she’s done.”


	15. December 19th, 1987 (Robin's Saturday Continued)

Robin dropped Blue back on his feet as soon as they entered a hallway leading away from the gym. The freckled girl grabbed his hand, practically yanking him forward as she continued to sprint through the halls. She looked over her shoulder, blue eyes wide. The thing was coming at them, claws digging into the tiles. The young woman turned her head at shouting, and she dragged Blue to the right, down the hall towards Steve and Dustin.  
The ground started to quake, out of tune with the beast’s footsteps. Blue tipped forward, and Robin barely kept her balance enough to keep him on his feet. “Holy shit,” Dustin yelled unhelpfully.  
“C’mon, c’mon,” Steve shouted, hand extended towards the running pair. Robin’s hand connected with his, and he yanked the young woman (and by extension the little boy) around the corner and forward. A crash sounded behind them, and Robin’s backwards glance confirmed the thing had slid into the lockers, unable to cut the corners. The quaking stopped in relation to the crash.  
“Keep moving, it’s after Blue,” Robin gasped, moving faster now that the ground wasn’t trembling underneath her. The four rounded another corner, spotting Lucas and Max at the far end. The darker boy halted, wrist rocket aiming right at them. The four runners parted down the middle. The screeching of the beast’s claws started again.  
A rock was fired, and she felt it fly past her cheek. A gust of wind blasted forward, knocking the four on their fronts and the two kids at the end of the hall backwards. The rock Lucas had fired shot back, embedding itself in the wall. “Get up, let’s go,” Steve yelled, pulling on Dustin as he watched the beast. Robbin groaned as she got up and pulled Blue forward.  
“Next corner we can take, we need to split into classrooms. Maybe get out through the windows,” Robin puffed. The monster roared as the humans left its sight again. “Turn here and get into a room,” she yelled, hoping the thing wouldn’t be able to see if Blue went left or right.  
She and Blue turned right, the rest taking a left. Robin left go of his hand for a split second to yank open the door before pulling the little boy inside. The pair were breathing hard. Blue’s chest was heaving, and Robin didn’t know if it was due to all the running or all the panic. The beast roared again, and the earth started to quake.  
Robin opened a closet and gestured for Blue to climb in next to her. The freckled girl shut the door and held the little boy tight to her side. “Try not to make any noise,” she breathed out. Not being able to see in the dark, Robin could only hope the movement of the head on her shoulder was a nod of understanding. She could hear as things began falling off the shelves as the trembling worsened.  
_Boom_. Something else shook the school aside from the beast-made earthquake. Blue’s breath audibly caught in his throat. Robin felt the hairs on her arms and neck stand up, and by the way he was gripped her arm, Blue was experiencing the same thing. “Sissy’s coming.”  
A wind blew through the room, breaking open the door to the classroom. The creature screeched. Robin’s gaze was locked on the small gap between the floor and the closet door. The small light from the street lamps outside shown through the room enough for the freckled girl to notice a shadow getting closer. Brilliant light flashed outside, and a loud buzzing accompanied it.  
Robin could hear a scream, not unlike El’s when she would use her abilities. The creature was screaming now. The closet door, as well as the wall it was attached to, broke open. The freckled girl gasped and moved so that Blue was behind her and she was facing the now visible scene.  
The lights began to glow, and Robin could see monster’s toothy face as it stared down the short girl in front of Robin. The short girl who had, like the lights, began to glow. As the glow intensified, the freckled girl could feel her hair move off her shoulders to drift upwards. An angered scream started again, and the beast responded with a roar as the wind began to blow strong and fast.  
Electricity shot out of the girl, towards the creature. The force knocked it across the room, through the wall, and across the school yard. The short, glowing girl began to scream again, following the monster and striking it again. This time electricity came from not only her, but the sky as well. And so it went on. Robin wasn’t sure how long, but once the light show stopped, the girl that had saved her and Blue’s life dropped to the ground as dead weight. The creature didn’t stir.  
A loud pop came from outside, and a tall, slender person showed up next to the collapsed figure on the ground. The person stuck out their hand, and, with another loud pop, a mound of something appeared in his hands. _A heart_.  
“Sissy,” Blue yelled, running from behind Robin. She followed at a slower, more uncertain pace. As she stepped through the crumbled wall, she could hear Steve and his kids shouting down the hall. The freckled girl called out a ‘_here_’, but couldn’t look away from the girl crumpled onto the ground.  
Steve and the kids arrived, fanning around Robin as they took in the scene before them. “Is that Blue’s sister,” the young man asked curiously. The freckled girl nodded slowly. “Did she kill it?” Robin repeated the same motion. “That’s good right? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Robin’s heart skipped a beat. Watching the short girl slowly sit up, holding Blue close. Auburn hair was pulled into a tight bun, giving the freckled girl a perfect view of the electric young woman’s profile. “Oh. Oh shit,” Steve said as he came to the same realization Robin had when she saw the girl blast the beast to death.  
“What? What’s going on,” Dustin asked, annoyed he wasn’t in on the loop. “Why are we staring at Nine?”  
“She goes by Nina, actually,” Robin said faintly. Her girlfriend looked away from Blue, and towards Robin’s group of freaks standing on the ruins of the school’s wall. Nina’s eyes went wide, just as startled as the other girl to see her significant other amid the supernatural destruction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly don't know if I will continue this because I feel like no one is interested so *shrugs*


End file.
